‘Job Corps is one of the best bang-for-your-buck programs we have to boost our local economies’

Press Release, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer

Photo by Tom Rivers: This sign on Route 63 in Shelby notes the Iroquois Job Corps. This center has space for up to 225 students who are served by 104 full-time equivalent employees.

After Schumer stood at Job Corps centers across Upstate NY to lead the fight to protect one of the nation’s largest and most effective workforce training programs from Trump’s effort to eliminate it, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today announced he has successfully preserved funding for Job Corps and helping students across America, including thousands in New York, get the skills they need to enter in-demand careers.

“Job Corps is one of the best bang-for-your-buck programs we have to boost our local economies, which is why I fought hard to protect it from Trump’s proposed cuts,” said Senator Schumer. “I’m proud to announce that, following my advocacy, we have preserved funding for Job Corps, ensuring the continuation of one of America’s largest and most effective workforce training programs.”

The just-passed Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education funding bill rejects Trump’s call to eliminate Job Corps and instead provides $1.76 billion in federal funding to keep them open. Schumer also secured language that blocks the closure of Job Corps Centers unless such closures meet specific requirements.

Anand Vimalassery, National Job Corps Association Interim President & CEO said, “Job Corps faced unprecedented disruption and uncertainty over the last year. Through it all, Senator Schumer stood by our students and staff in Calicoon, Cassadaga, Glenmont, Medina, New York City, and Oneonta. His leadership is helping ensure young adults in New York continue to have a pathway into the skilled workforce through Job Corps and we’re grateful for his support.”

In May 2025, Trump paused operations at Job Corps centers nationwide. Afterward, a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump from shutting down Job Corps centers, and another federal judge said operations must resume until the previous case is resolved. Schumer explained that the Trump administration not only attempted to shut down Job Corps centers, but in his budget request, Trump said he wanted to totally zero out funding for the program, effectively killing the program without needing the approval of federal courts.

After hearing about Trump’s proposed cuts, Schumer last year traveled to Job Corps centers across Upstate New York, from the Iroquois Job Corps center in Orleans County to the Cassadaga Job Corps center in Chautauqua County and the Otsego Job Corps Center, to stand with students, staff, and small business owners and demand we protect this vital pipeline for skilled workers to fill jobs.

In addition to fighting back on Trump’s proposed elimination of funds for Jobs Corps in the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations bill, Schumer led efforts in the Senate to oppose the Trump administration’s destructive and potentially illegal actions like pausing existing funds for the Job Corps centers.

Schumer called on U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer to protect Job Corps and demanded answers on these destructive efforts. Thanks to Schumer’s leadership, the Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education funding bill rejects Trump’s call to eliminate Job Corps and instead provides $1.76 billion in federal funding – which is consistent with the previous year – to keep them open and includes language to protect against Trump’s efforts to illegally shut down specific centers.

 “The Iroquois Job Corps Center has been a cornerstone of opportunity in Orleans County for more than sixty years, helping young people gain the skills and credentials they need to succeed while strengthening our local economy,” said Lynne Johnson, Chairman of the Orleans County Legislature. “Preserving funding for Job Corps is critical for our students, our workforce, and our community. Thanks to Senator Schumer, the Iroquois Job Corps Center can continue delivering real pathways to good-paying careers and supporting the next generation of skilled workers.”

Schumer said Job Corps centers have helped millions of young people ages 16 to 24 finish high school, learn technical skills, and get jobs in in-demand fields such as healthcare and construction. Low-income and at-risk young people have received stable housing and healthcare while developing the skills they need to get good-paying jobs after graduation. Across Upstate NY, centers in Albany, Sullivan, Orleans, Otsego, and Chautauqua Counties serve thousands of young New Yorkers and employ over 500 staff.

Genesee would receive $285 million in revenue over 30 years, plus an estimated $18 million in sales tax annually to be split by county and state

Photos by Tom Rivers: Stream U.S. Data Centers held an open house at the Alabama Fire Hall on Monday evening for people to meet members of the development team for the data center. Many of the attendees are concerned about the environmental impacts on the community, including the nearby wildlife refuge and Tonawanda Indian Nation.

ALABAMA – A massive data center proposed for the STAMP site in Alabama, just a few miles south of Orleans County, would bring a major influx of revenue for Genesee County, said officials at the Genesee County Economic Development Center.

Stream U.S. Data Centers would pay $285 million over 30 years to Genesee County, the Town of Alabama and Oakfield-Alabama Center School. (The project also would receive $744 million in tax incentives. The GCEDC board is expected to accept an application from Stream during its board meeting on Thursday. There will be public hearings about the incentives and the site plan for the data center.)

Bradley Wells, site selection and development manager for Stream U.S. Data Centers, speaks to reporters at Monday’s meeting. He said the project uses a relatively small footprint of the STAMP site and won’t generate much traffic after construction. The data center would have 125 employees working different shifts. There would be about 1,000 people working on construction of the data center’s three buildings, each over 700,000 square feet.

The company also will have to pay sales tax on its electricity usage and that is expected to be about $18 million a year to be split by Genesee County and the state.

Stream U.S. Data Centers is proposing to invest over $11 billion in the data center at STAMP. GCEDC gets a fee when it facilitates a project, usually 1.25 percent of the development costs.

With the data center, the fee would be 0.75 percent or about $83 million. That money would help build out public water in Genesee County and with infrastructure at other GCEDC business parks, said Mark Masse, GCEDC president and CEO. Five of the eight GCEDC parks are currently fully occupied but there is space at STAMP, Le Roy and in the Pembroke parks.

“This whole program is generational revenue for Genesee County,” Masse said during an interview on Monday during an informational meeting by Stream at the Alabama fire hall.

The project is outside Orleans County, but Masse and GCEDC officials expect Orleans would see significant benefit for employment and other services for the data center, as well as people looking to move into the community.

The project has faced resistance from Orleans County, including Legislature Chairwoman Lynne Johnson who doesn’t want any wastewater from STAMP to go into the Oak Orchard Creek, which is a major tourism draw for fishing in the county.

STAMP will be using the Village of Oakfield sewer plant for treatment, and Masse said the plant will be upgraded to treat phosphorus.

The Allies of Tonawanda Seneca Nation have been vocal in opposition of the data center, saying it uses enormous amounts of electricity – 500 megawatts – that could impact electricity rates for other customers.

The Allies passed out flyers listing concerns with noise, impacts to wildlife, water usage and pollution, air pollution, e-waste, and other environmental impacts.

Arthur Barnes of Shelby was among the attendees at Monday’s meeting. He wore a “Stop STAMP” button. Barnes would have preferred to hear a presentation from the developer to the group, but instead Stream had people meet one on one or in small groups. Barnes said the presentation was “too slick” and didn’t consider the impacts of the project on the community.

Bradley Wells, site selection and development manager for Stream, said the meeting format was a chance to “have one on one time with developer.”

The new data center would be “unique and premium in the market,” he told reporters at the meeting.

The data center helps meet a need with the “growth of internet, growth of interconnectivity, subscription streaming and artificial intelligence,” he said.

The STAMP site is attractive for Stream because it offers all of the existing infrastructure –with electricity, water and waste water. Wells said the facility would use “very minimal water” and would operate on a closed loop air cooling system.

There are very restrictive noise requirements, and Wells said the site would operate at 65 decibels at day and 45 decibels at night from the Stream property lines. The noise would be quieter farther away from the site. Wells said 65 decibels is similar to the sound when talking in a room and 45 decibels is the sound of a quiet office environment.

Stream U.S. Data Centers showed renderings of how a vacant field at STAMP could be turned into a large data center.

The company, based in Dallas, Texas, will need to get through an environmental review with the GCEDC the lead agency. The Allies of the Seneca Nation, Orleans County and others wanted the state Department of Environmental Conservation to lead that review. Barnes said the GCEDC role “is like the fox guarding the hen house.”

Wells said Stream strives to build a long-lasting partnership with the community. The company is hopeful construction could start in 2026 with the facility to begin operations in 2027, although a full buildout is expected to take until 2030.

He foresees “1,000 continuous trade jobs” during the construction. Once that is complete, the traffic impact from the data center would be “extremely low,” Wells said, with 125 employees working different shifts, many of them software specialists and engineering technicians.

Other manufacturing at STAMP could see many more employees and deliveries, with a much bigger impact on traffic in the community, he said.

Stream would operate on 90 acres out the 1,250 acres at STAMP.

“We think it’s one of the most dense, best uses of the park right now,” Wells said.